David Earl Johnson—1968-69 Wildcat
Football
.
David Earl
Johnson, a former Wildcat and a member of the PRCC Board of Trustees, began
playing football under Coach Jack Craft at Purvis High School. Johnson
ws named All-Conference and was chosen to play in the Mississippi high
School All-Star game in Jackson.
Johnson graduate
from Purvis High School in 1968 and arrived at PRC on a football scholarship
in the fall of '68. During Johnson's first year, the Wildcats produced
a 5-4 record. In 1969 PRC went on to produce a state championship
team. The team was also nationally ranked as one of the top three
community college teams in the nation. The 1969 Wildcats were 9-0.
The '69 Wildcats rank seventh in school history in total offense with 3,518
yards, and alternating quarterbacks Terry Skantz of Carriere and Steve
Worrel of Bay St. Louis passed their way into the record book with 89 pass
completions for the year, putting the Wildcats in all-time fifth place
for that statistic. Other records included 17th place for most yardage
in one game, 505 against Holmes, and in nine games the team scored 329
points, the third best ever.
After his two
year stint at Pearl River, he went to USM on a scholarship and played during
the 1970 and 1971 seasons. Johnson went on to get his master's degree
at Southern, where he worked as a graduate assistant coach, later coached
at Forrest County AHS in Brooklyn for a year and then came to Pearl River
under Coach Harvey Seligman. He remained at PRC for eight years,
first under Seligman and then under J.C. Arban.
In 1984 he left
coaching and founded Omega Realty in Poplarville. Since then he has
been a successful realtor. Johnson is married to the former Nancy
Shivers of Bassfield and they have two children.